Emergency Notebook - Check!

A few months ago, I put together our 72-hour kits. It felt good to get them done. Well, today I felt another sense of accomplishment, as I completed the hard part of our emergency notebook. It took several hours spread out over several days, but the notebook is done--well, almost.

I did a lot of research about what goes into people's emergency notebooks. After weighing the security risks of all the different information that could go into a notebook, I opted to put almost everything in our notebook. I thought about two things--what we would need if we had to evacuate Japan in a big hurry and what someone else would need to help our kids if Jip and I weren't around. So, here's what I included:

• Passports


• Social Security Cards


• Birth Certificates


• Emergency and Other Phone Numbers


• Emergency Plan (where to meet on base and off base and what each adult is responsible for when we have to leave in a hurry)


• Identity Information (basic vitals, work info, physician info, wills, powers of attorney, and advance directives)


• Financial Information (bank account numbers and contact info, credit card account numbers and contact info, retirement account info, and health and life insurance info)


• Other Important Contacts (financial planner and estate attorney)


• Important Documents (deeds, titles, etc.)

Filling everything out was definitely the hard part--it was time consuming. But, it is so great to have it all in one place. I've always had some of it in Quicken, but my desktop computer isn't exactly portable. And, I know it is risky to have these documents in a single place, but it will make it easier if ever needed. Plus, I bought a new safe big enough to hold the notebook, so that makes me feel a little better.

I still need to do a few things to make the notebook truly complete, though. The main thing is to complete the identity section with fingerprints and photos of each of us. I may even do a DNA sample. I'm waiting for kits to get here from Amazon to wrap that up. I also want to put a backup of Quicken and our electronic password safe (all of our passwords are stored in an encrypted file on our computer) in the notebook. Lastly, I never did put emergency cash in our 72-hour kits, but now that I have the notebook in a safe, I think I'll put the emergency cash in the notebook.

I'm so glad to be better prepared for a disaster. There is still more work to do, though. Next--a full home inventory. I'm dreading writing down serial numbers of all of the electronics, but hey, it needs to be done. Winter is coming, so maybe a few cold days and RJ at preschool will result in a complete inventory before the daffodils come up!